It is well known that insects can injure people and destroy their food supplies. In early days, controlled fires were started to drive insects such as locusts away with smoke and more recently a variety of insecticides such as DDT have been developed. Unfortunately DDT and many of the early poisons for insects were not selective. The existence of mass fish kills due to pesticide residues is well documented. Therefore since the outlawing of DDT in the U.S.A., the E.P.A. and other nongovernment groups have been looking for and finding replacement techniques for pesticides and pesticide management programs.
The codling moth, Cydia pomonella, is a major exotic pest of walnuts, apples and pears in California and elsewhere in the United States. It has become a major problem in three quarters of the California counties where walnuts are grown. Codling moths produce three generations per year and larval damage from the first generation is believed to be responsible for nut drop in June. Nut meat damage caused by third generation larvae is seen at the harvest and is more easily quantified. Since California produces virtually all of the commercially produced walnuts in the United States with over 205,000 acres in 20 counties dedicated to walnut production there is indeed significant interest in controlling this pest.
One way that has been developed is to use a natural predator of the pest to destroy the pest, i.e., the codling moth, which can reek havoc upon a walnut orchard if left unchecked, and which is one of the many lepidopterous pests encountered in northern California. The predator of choice by applicant is the Trichogramma, a small parasitic wasp. This tiny wasp was believed to be a natural enemy of the codling moth since it was known that Trichogramma will attack the eggs of other lepidoptera.
The use of Trichogramma to fight the codling moth in walnut orchards has been previously reported. The currently accepted technique for distribution is to ship refrigerated pupae of the Trichogramma inside parasitized grain moth eggs, to the customer. The refrigeration slows down the maturation. Large sheets of cardstock or paper are coated with a glue as by brushing or sponging and globs of the parasitized eggs placed thereon. The large sheets of substrate are cut up by hand and little squares are stapled to individual leaves of the walnut tree, wrapped around twigs, and stapled in place, placed or attached to drinking cups and wedged into or attached to locations on trees. There are several problems associated with this technique. First, mature walnut trees are 12 to 18 meters tall, so the placement of the beneficial insect paper squares relatively near the ground, i.e., 2 meters up, does not concentrate the predator where the codling moth deposits its eggs, in the upper reaches of the tree. The prior art hand placement method, is labor super intensive and the technique does not allow rapid coverage during short weather related optimum application periods. Further, the cardstock squares present concentrated masses of eggs, poorly protected from ants, earwigs and other predators, due to their location, thereby reducing the percent of pupae that can mature to do their job. Since the shape of a tree is random, uniform horizontal dispersion of the squares is totally impossible. Thus areas will be overly populated, and area will be under populated with the beneficial insect. Thus excess placement is required at more cost to overcome these deficiencies, at still higher cost.
Applicant was of the belief that an improved method of delivery was possible, using spray techniques. Thus applicant set out to provide new insect compositions and a replacement mode of delivering these compositions and specifically Trichogramma hereinafter Tg, singular or Tgs plural, to fight the codling moth in walnut trees and other crops. Since walnut trees were to be the primary target to be treated, he also went about determining whether other pests of the walnut tree could be counteracted by the same new method of delivery of a beneficial predator to the target area.
Aerial spraying methods were well known to applicant, and indeed there are numerous patents dealing with the aerial spraying of beneficial insects. Thus a patent search revealed the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ 4,260,109 Maedgen 5,148,989 Skinner ______________________________________
Other patents related to the technology at hand, that turned up during the course of the search included:
______________________________________ 3,484,062 Johnson 4,537,333 Bjerregaard 1,749,504 C. L. Pelton 2,730,402 A. A. Whiting, Jr. et al 2,772,061 J. M. Sellers 2,986,360 L. D. Rutten 3,476,337 W. D. Cornett, Jr. 3,525,473 P. R. Pickell 3,777,978 Manicatide et al 3,847,113 Andreev et al ______________________________________
None of these references either alone, or in combination anticipate or render obvious the apparatus, method of delivery, or the composition to be disclosed herein.
It is a yet further object to provide a new process for the delivery of parasitized eggs and other beneficial insects.
It is indeed an additional object to provide a process for the delivery of Trichogramma pupae to walnut trees to fight the codling moth.
One more object is to provide a new composition of matter for the fight against codling moth.
Another additional object is to provide other compositions for the fight against lepidoptera insects which are pests to specific food crops.
A third additional object is to provide various carrier based compositions for the beneficial predators utilized for fighting lepidoptera pests.
A yet additional object is to provide a process for preparing the unique compositions of this invention.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises (1) the apparatus possessing the construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts; (2) the method involving the several steps and the relation and order of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the other steps for delivery of the beneficial pest compositions according to the invention; (3) the several steps and the relation and order of one or more of such steps with respect to the others for the manufacture of the compositions of this invention; and (4) the compositions possessing certain features and properties; all of which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.